Don Carlos Buell

• 1. The Boy From Lowell

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  Don Carlos Buell was born on the 23rd of March 1818 in Lowell, Ohio. He entered a world where his father died when he was eight years old. His uncle James P. Drake and aunt Priscilla Holmes Drake took him in to raise him. As a child, Buell struggled to make friends due to his distant personality. Other children often made fun of him for this quiet nature. After winning a fight with a neighborhood bully, he realized that discipline could overcome any obstacle. His uncle sent him to a Presbyterian school that stressed duty and self-discipline. George Buell secured an appointment for his nephew at West Point. Despite high intelligence and good math skills, Buell accumulated numerous demerits during his time there. He graduated in 1841 as the 32nd student in a class of 52. After graduation, he received a commission as second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Infantry regiment.

• 2. Wounds And Courts Martial

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  Buell was sent to Florida to fight in the Seminole Wars but did not see combat. The 3rd Infantry later transferred to Illinois where Buell found himself court-martialed. He had gotten into an argument with an enlisted man and beaten him over the head with the blunt end of his sword. An Army tribunal cleared him of any wrongdoing despite considerable opposition to the verdict. General Winfield Scott felt Buell needed punishment but the court would not retry the case. In the Mexican, American War, he served under both Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He was brevetted three times for bravery and wounded at Churubusco. Between wars he served in the Adjutant General's office and as adjutant in California. He reached the rank of captain in 1851 and lieutenant colonel by the start of the Civil War.

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• 3. The Shiloh Rivalry

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  On the morning of April 6, Confederates launched a surprise attack on Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing. Buell arrived with the Army of Ohio the next day to help repulse them. Although junior in rank, Buell insisted he acted independently and refused orders from Grant. He considered himself the victor of Shiloh and wrote after the war that Grant exerted no marked influence on the fortune of the day. Contemporary historians consider that Grant saved himself by the conclusion of the first day. The rivalry between Grant and Buell hampered the conduct of battle on the second day. They operated almost completely independently while Buell proved slow and hesitant to commit himself. Following the battle, Halleck arrived to take command of both armies. The combined force numbered 100,000 men but moved extremely slowly against Beauregard's retreat.

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• 4. The Kentucky Stalemate

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  Confederate armies under Edmund Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg invaded Kentucky in September. Buell wired Halleck that he planned to march on Louisville. Halleck replied that he did not care where Buell marched as long as he fought the enemy. Louisville was occupied by the Army of the Ohio on September 25. Despite learning that Bragg's army was in nearby Munfordville, Buell declined to pursue him. A single corps of Buell's army was attacked at the Battle of Perryville on the 8th of October 1862. Buell remained a couple of miles behind the action unaware until late in the day. He refused to counterattack the next day because he did not know exactly how many Confederates were facing him. By morning, Bragg ordered a retreat from the field. Although tactically indecisive, the battle halted the Confederate invasion of Kentucky.

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• 5. Refusal And Resignation

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  On October 24, Buell was relieved from command of the Army of the Ohio. He was replaced by Maj. Gen William Rosecrans. A military committee investigated his conduct but came to no conclusions. When Grant was appointed general-in-chief in March 1864, he offered Buell an assignment. Buell refused to serve under either Sherman or George Thomas on grounds that he outranked them. Grant called this the worst excuse a soldier can make for declining service. On May 23, Buell's volunteer commission expired and he reverted to regular army rank of colonel. Unable to tolerate this demotion, he resigned from the army on June 1. Following the war he lived again in Indiana and then in Kentucky working in the iron industry.

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• 6. The Cautious Legacy

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  Buell earned the nickname The McClellan of the West for his cautious approach. He desired a limited war that would not disrupt civilian life in the South. His wife had owned slaves prior to the war though she freed them after Fort Sumter. Buell had no personal animosity towards slavery or the Southern way of life. He continued to be highly regarded by fellow generals who felt the White House treated him unjustly. William T. Sherman wrote to his brother John asking if Rosecrans was any better than Buell. His harsh discipline and inability to relate to soldiers contributed to his downfall. By 1898 he was an invalid and died on November 19. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.